FOCUS: Children & Islam - The Big Picture

FACTS & FIGURES

NUTRITION
More than a third of all children in OIC countries excluding the Arab sub-region live with persistent hunger. Close to half of under-fives in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Yemen are both underweight and stunted. Levels of exclusive breastfeeding within the OIC are among the lowest in the world.

IMMUNIZATION
Immunization coverage against the basic childhood diseases is above average in the OIC Arab sub-region, on par with the global average in the Asian sub-region, and approximately 20 percentage points below average in the African sub-region. However, regional broad-brush averages still hide disparities within regions and countries. No OIC region yet delivers equitable immunization coverage in all its countries. The fight to eradicate poliomyelitis remains a major challenge for the OIC. In 2005, five out of the world's six polio-endemic countries are OIC Member States in Africa and Asia. Many OIC governments have increased budgets for vaccine procurement and delivery, with 31 out of 57 governments now financing 100% of routine vaccinations.

WATER & SANITATION
Some 77% of people in OIC countries use improved drinking water sources; only 55% use adequate sanitation facilities. In general, people living in urban areas as twice as likely as rural populations to have proper sanitation facilities. In several Central Asian republics, water and sanitation access has declined dramatically outside of cities. Many OIC countries are on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal on access to clean water, but progress towards the sanitation targets has been much slower. Most African OIC countries are falling short of both targets.

HIV/AIDS
At the end of 2003, African OIC countries accounted for 7.9 million adult HIV cases (5.4% of the adult population), including 4.1 million infections among women. Among those aged 15-24, the infection rate for women was three times higher than for men. Mozambique was the worst-affected country, with an adult infection rate of 12.2%.

Adult HIV prevalence rates in Arab and Asian OIC countries were 0.3% and 0.1% respectively. In Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Central Asian republics where HIV incidence is low, concentrated epidemics among intravenous drug users and sex workers are major causes for concern. Injecting drug use is the main force driving the spread of AIDS in the Central Asian republics and may also be a growing mode of transmission in some African countries. In some of the largest Asian countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan, the epidemic has just begun.